University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

A conversation-based framework for musical improvisation

Walker, William Franklin

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/19675

Description

Title
A conversation-based framework for musical improvisation
Author(s)
Walker, William Franklin
Issue Date
1994
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Faiman, Michael
Department of Study
Computer Science
Discipline
Computer Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Music
  • Computer Science
Language
eng
Abstract
Many recent computer applications seek to support or even participate in structured collaborations with humans. Examples range from computer-supported collaborative work to interactive music systems. This thesis presents a general model for structured collaboration based on conversational turn-taking. According to the model, collaboration participants share both a representation of the collaboration's structure and the algorithms governing navigation through that structure. ImprovisationBuilder, an object-oriented framework written in Smalltalk-80, supports this model for musical improvisation. The framework demonstrates how computers can participate in musical improvisation, and how the study of conversation can improve that participation. Two musical improvisational domains are described. The first is a free-form three part canon defined by Sal Martirano's Sound and Logic system. The second is the tradition of small jazz ensemble performance made popular in the 1940's and 50's. ImprovisationBuilder was successfully applied to these domains.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/19675
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1994 Walker, William Franklin

Owning Collections

Graduate Dissertations and Theses at Illinois PRIMARY
Graduate Theses and Dissertations at Illinois
Dissertations and Theses - Computer Science
Dissertations and Theses from the Dept. of Computer Science